Easy Vegetable Gluten Free Pasta Salad

Summer time or winter time, a room temperature salad is perfect. This easy gluten free pasta salad is great at picnics as you can remove it from the ice chest to reach room temperature when you first arrive. When serving it at home you can do the same thing or serve it as soon as you make it. Use your favorite salad dressing, though I recommend Italian. I have included a link to my article on Answers.com which lists several gluten free salad dressing brands and flavors.

Easy Vegetable Gluten Free Pasta Salad

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Yield: Serves 6

Easy Vegetable Gluten Free Pasta Salad

An easy gluten free pasta recipe that you can bring to a picnic, serve at a barbecue or at home. At room temperature the pasta is a perfect texture.

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups gluten free pasta (Heartland, Trader Joe's, Jovial, Tinkyada brands), cooked, rinsed, and drained
  • 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
  • 2 cups broccoli florets, cut into bite size pieces
  • 1/3 cup sliced olives
  • 1/2 cheese, cut into cubes (Follow Your Heart or Daiya brands for dairy-free)
  • 1 Tablespoon chopped red onion (optional)
  • Gluten free dressing of your choosing (recommend: Italian) or Light Balsamic Vinaigrette Salad Dressing Recipe

Instructions:

  1. Boil a large pot of water and boil the broccoli for about 3 minutes, drain, and chill it in the refrigerator.
  2. Place the cooked pasta in a large bowl and add remaining ingredients except for the cheese. Add just enough salad dressing to coat the ingredients and toss. Start with a little dressing and add more, as needed. Add the cheese cubes to the top for garnish. You do not want to toss the cheese or they will sink to the bottom.
  3. Serve immediately or refrigerate and then bring to room temperature prior to serving.

Tips

If not serving immediately and you desire to refrigerate the pasta and serve later, avoid rice-based pasta, or least use a rice blend pasta such as a mixture of rice and corn.

Visit Carla’s Gluten Free Online Store.

4 Replies to “Easy Vegetable Gluten Free Pasta Salad”

  1. Hi. I’m making this for my kiddo’s party on Sunday. Can I make it a day ahead of time? Will it turn to mush in the fridge overnight? Thanks!

    1. Hi Lisa,

      I never make gluten free pasta salad in advance because the pasta gets hard in the refrigerator. Perhaps if it was coated well in oil, once brought to room temperature, it may do okay. I would prepare and store all of the ingredients in ziplock storage bags and then toss them the day of the party.

      Good luck and enjoy!
      Carla

      1. Thanks a ton! Perhaps I’ll add a bit of the dressing to the ziplock tomorrow and cross my fingers!

  2. The broccoli is definitely an interesting addition to the salad. I have never tried combining broccoli and pasta, especially not as a salad (and that’s despite the fact that I am a big fan of pasta salads). Thanks for sharing.

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